Tarjeta Dorada

'So is it better to wait, buy the card, and then make train reservations; or buy the train tickets early (now?!?) to take advantage of pricing discounts for early purchases?'

Only you can do the maths with whatever itinerary you have, but I very much doubt the Tarjeta Dorada will improve your lot against advance discount purchase many weeks away. As you seem to know there are discounts available with early purchase, presumably you have one of the several guides available on the web about RENFE, but if not here is the most comprehensive and regularly updated guide - http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c80518/Madrid:Spain:Buying.Renfe.Tickets.Online.html

It is an either/ or situation. You have no choice but to buy the TD card in person. The TD cannot be purchased on line because you have to prove that you are eligible. Buy in person at the first train station - takes a few minutes, think it is now 6 E, produce a passport. The TD gives a 40% weekday and 25% discount off of the walk up prices. You cannot use it to get discount on top of discount.

To answer your question you need to determine by pricing if the discount for purchasing on-line is greater than the discount you would get using the TD card. Simple. Keep in mind though - most discount tickets come with restriction as to change and refund. Typically a discount tickets locks you into a fixed schedule. There is more flexibility with the TD card. You can go anytime.

We bought our Tarjeta Dorada cards on arrival at Madrid Airport and used them to buy tickets to Cordoba because we didn't want to pre book that leg in case our international flight was delayed. We had pre booked only those tickets that were really much cheaper than if we'd bought them with the TD. It worked out well for us...and the bonus is, we're going back next month and the TD is still valid !

Thanks for the replies. I reread (I'd seen it earlier) the TripAdvisor piece, made some calculations, and went ahead with the purchase of train tickets.

I used the Renfe website in Spanish and PayPal, and have the PDFs.

So we're good to go for the part of the trip that can be nailed down now. The portion for which we want more flexibility we'll possibly get the Tarjeta Dorada and go from there.

Cheers.

We did the same as LadyGolfer & used the 'Tarjeta Dorada' for the train ticket for travel on day of arrival.

My mom qualified for the Tarjeta Dorada, but I booked our train tickets in advance at considerable savings.

Keep in mind that the 25-40% discount you get with the TD is on full fare tickets.

As Frank mentioned above:

You cannot use it to get discount on top of discount.

I found that sometimes the TD discount was about the same or more than the promo fares. Those I bought soon after I arrived in Spain, when I bought my card. On the MD trains, the TD discount can be 40%. Check the TD box on the Renfe site and it will automatically give you the lowest price - promo or TD. For one train I got the promo fare for Tourist Plus, which was about the same as the TD price for tourist.